Of Metal and Flesh
by pryme-sephir
Summary: A crossoverfusion of of Ranma12 and TransformersBeast Wars. At the battle of Jusendo, Ranma had to tap into a power he had sworn to protect. Now the Predacons are closing in on the lost artifact they've been searching for: the Matrix of Leadership.
1. Prologue

Of Metal And Flesh 

A Ranma ½ fanfiction piece by pryme-sephir

Disclaimer: I own neither Ranma nor the Transformers. If I did, do you think that this would be a fanfic? So don't sue, okay?

Before you start, I would like to make it clear that I while I have done some writing in the past, that this is the first time that I have ever written a fanfic. So I hope you all enjoy, and I want to hear whatever comments and criticisms you may have. So review, please!

Prologue

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Pain.

It was nothing new to Ranma Saotome. Nearly every day since he had come to Nerima (and virtually every day _before _he had come to Nerima), he had known pain quite intimately. Being a martial artist with an endless parade of rivals and violent, possessive fiancés, Ranma had come to accept pain as an inescapable aspect of his life.

The pain he was currently feeling was different. Ranma was used to the wounds he received from battles with his regular rivals Ryouga, Mousse, and Kuno. He had adapted over time to the beatings he was treated to via Akane's mallet, Ukyou's spatula, and Shampoo's bonbori. He dealt with Happosai's glomp attacks, Cologne's blackmail spells and traps, and the parents' attempts at forcing him and Akane together. He had even gotten used to the occasional battles with unusual monsters, demons, and self-proclaimed gods.

But never before had Ranma actually been tortured…

Ranma was currently being held by what he could only understand as some form of technological restraints. His arms and legs were each encased in a mechanical pod of some sort, and he was leaning slightly forward in a forced spread-eagle position. Within the pods that held his arms and legs, small needles forced poisons into him the likes of which Kodachi could only dream of. Ranma had built up an intense immunity to various poisons thanks to Kodachi's toxins, Shampoo's drugs, and Akane's cooking, but these poisons were more powerful than anything he had ever been exposed to before. They actually kept Ranma from summoning up his ki, which was the only thing stopping him from escaping. If his captors used anything less, Ranma would have destroyed his restraints and freed himself long ago.

Speaking of Ranma's captors…

The source of Ranma's current pain was the spider-like mechanical being standing before him. Or rather, it was the electrified blade that the creature currently had stabbed into Ranma's left shoulder. The pain was excruciating, setting Ranma's every nerve on fire, and it only intensified as his tormentor began to twist the blade. It wanted to hear him cry out, to hear him scream in agony and beg for the pain to end. But Ranma refused to give the mechanoid the satisfaction. Ranma did not so much as grunt in acknowledgement of his captor's efforts.

The mechanoid's eyes narrowed as it uttered otherworldly curses and twisted the blade further. When Ranma showed no response to its efforts, the creature removed the blade and tossed into onto a nearby table. The table was already cluttered with various torture devices, most of them coated in Ranma's blood. The mechanoid then grabbed Ranma by the hair and lifted Ranma's head, forcing the martial artist to look him in the eye, and spoke.

"Cease this foolishness. You know that you cannot hold out forever, fleshling. Give up the Matrix, and I will end your suffering. If you persist in this imbecilic resistance, the pain will only become worse! Do you truly wish to endure yet more agony? Give in to our demands, and you will be granted freedom!" The creature's voice was raspy, and was accentuated with an occasional clicking sound that seemed to resonate from within the back of its mechanical throat. Its pupil-less yellow eyes bored into Ranma's searching for the smallest chink in his mental armor.

Ranma stared into the creature's eyes for a moment, seeming to weigh his options, before his calm expression turned into his usual confident smirk. Before the creature could voice its rage at his continued defiance, Ranma decided to further mock his captor. He spit in its eye. The oral projectile of saliva and blood (which had made its way to his mouth as a result of the mechanoid's earlier efforts) caused the mechanoid to flinch slightly. Ranma's smirk grew more pronounced as he decided to further the insult and spoke.

"Fuck you, you walking scrap heap."

Silence reigned in the creature's torture chamber. For a few agonizingly slow seconds, it did not respond at all. It suddenly let go of Ranma's hair, letting his head droop to its previous bowed position. The creature then lifted one three-fingered hand and slowly wiped away the spit and blood from its face. After it had flung away the liquid, the creature's hand clenched into a fist, and raised with all intent of splitting Ranma's skull wide open, and splattering the contents all over the floor. But before it could carry out the action, a beeping noise emanated from a computer terminal on the far side of the room.

The creature shouted out with its otherworldly curses once more with considerably more enthusiasm than earlier. It was angry, both at having been stopped and at having lost its temper. It then sighed and turned towards the offending noise. It could not ignore the insistent beeping, since it signaled in incoming communication, likely from its master. It marched toward the terminal, the clank of its metal feet echoing in the cavernous torture chamber. It reached the offending computer and flipped a switch, causing a large video screen to come to life. On the screen was the face of another of Ranma's mechanical captors, and that face was twisted into what appeared to be a permanent scowl. Ranma had learned, shortly after his capture, that this face belonged to the leader of the mechanoids who now held him captive.

"Lieutenant Venom, I do hope that you have made some progress with the prisoner?" It may have been spoken in the master's usual calm speech, but the mechanoid now identified as Venom caught the underlying tone of impatience. Venom mentally steeled himself so that he would not appear nervous in front of his commander.

"There has been no progress as of yet, Lord Megatron. The fleshling is being treated with the strongest poisons I have available, but they have little effect other than keeping him from escaping. I have also been using my most painful torture techniques on him for the past three solar cycles, yet he shows no outward signs of response. If the chemicals had some stronger effect on him, then we could have simply extracted his spark and been done with it." While Venom was highly frustrated at Ranma's refusal to submit, his training as a torturer made him respect Ranma on some level. The fleshling's willpower was admirable. Venom had tortured all manner of individuals, both mechanical and organic, and no one had lasted for more than half a solar cycle. Yet, this…human had lasted for three. Three!

To Venom, this meant that it would only be that much more satisfying when Ranma finally broke.

Upon hearing Venom's response, Megatron's scowl worsened. For a moment, Venom feared for his very existence. If Megatron found Venom's failure unacceptable, then Venom would be taken offline. Permanently. After being slowly blasted into scrap. However, Megatron restrained his temper, and forced himself to remain calm. Anger impaired a person's better judgement, and an intelligent commander needed a clear mind in order to make appropriate decisions. Megatron knew that he was no expert in interrogation. His areas of expertise were combat, political speaking, and battlefield tactics. That was why he had individuals like Venom working for him: to handle tasks that he himself could not. Every individual had a weakness, and he knew Venom would find Ranma's. It was just a matter of time. He had waited twelve years, so what was a few more solar cycles? He could afford to be patient.

And when Venom finally succeeded, the Matrix, the ancient Cybertronian relic of power, would belong to him. With it, the universe would bow before the might of the Predacons. The name of Megatron would be known and feared by all! Yes, he could afford to be patient.

"Continue with your…work, Lieutenant. I trust that you will be able to find the fleshling's weakness in time." Megatron's eyes then narrowed and fixed Venom with a cold glare. "Or is my faith in your abilities…misplaced?" Inwardly, Megatron smiled. Just because he actually believed in Venom's skills didn't mean he couldn't give the spider-transformer a little…motivation.

Venom flinched, the implied threat clearly understood. He had to hand it to Megatron. The master certainly knew how to mess with someone's mind. He was able to find the perfect way to mentally attack someone. Venom's mind screeched to a halt as he realized something. He had gone so long without having to use anything but physical torture that he had forgotten the psychological aspect of his profession. He had clearly ignored all signs that Ranma was immune to the psychological effects of pain inflicted upon his person. Perhaps if that pain was instead inflicted upon someone the fleshling cared for?

It was a rather simple approach, but one that often proved quite effective, especially on the stubborn warrior-types.

"Lieutenant Venom, I expect a response! Will I need to do to you what I did to those pathetic Maximals!" Megatron's demeanor had changed, revealing the legendary rage that lay beneath the calm, cool exterior. His scowl had turned into a full-fledged snarl, and his red eyes seemed to glow with an infernal light.

Venom started, realizing that he had allowed himself to become lost in his thoughts, and had unintentionally ignored Megatron. "Forgive me Lord Megatron, but I suddenly had an epiphany concerning the human. If I may be so bold, my lord, I would like to ask that you send Stalker to the torture room. His services may very well provide me with that which I need to deal with the fleshling."

Venom's statement piqued Megatron's interest. "Stalker?" Megatron's face suddenly split into an eerie smile, one that would have made Venom shudder had he not been expecting it. "I see. I will order him to report to you and take care of whatever it is you need. However, I will expect results soon, or there will be…dire consequences." With those words, the screen went blank, the transmission ended.

Venom released the tension he had built from speaking with his master, relieved that Megatron had not wound up ordering his execution. Venom considered his situation for a moment. Venom nodded to himself, his course of action decided. Intelligence operative Stalker would be able to gather the information he required, and quickly at that. Though he would not arrive for several moments, as his quarters were on the other side of the base.

Venom decided to spend that time releasing some of his pent-up frustrations. On Ranma, of course. He moved to another wall of the chamber, this one covered in racks that held the many tools of his trade that he had acquired over the years. He looked over the many devices, indecision overtaking him for a moment, until his eyes settled on one on the far right. He picked up the long, thick rod he had decided on and took a moment to admire it.

Above the hilt of the rod, it appeared to be made of smooth, blue crystal. The crystalline portion was had several red lines running vertically across it that met at the tip, where it ended in a small bump that was the same red as the lines that connected to it. On the other side of the crystalline portion (which was inside the hilt) was an identical bump. The device was a Dinarian Heat-Stick, a rare find, seeing as how the Dinarians were extinct.

They had been the victims of an unfortunate flesh-eating disease that had been accidentally created in one of their medical labs. The price of one researcher not paying close enough attention to his work, so that he genetically spliced the wrong specimens together. Not that Venom really cared how they had met their end.

Venom pushed the small button at the bottom of the hilt, and the rod flared to life. It glowed a dull blue at first as it powered up, but then began to shine a bright white as it reached unbearable temperatures. Unbearable for the victim, that is. Venom allowed himself a chuckle. Yes, this would teach that pathetic fleshling a lesson about respecting his betters.

Ranma heard Venom approaching. He had known that the brief respite from his torment could not last long. He had attempted once more to call forth his ki, but with no success. From his position, Ranma could see Venom moving behind him, and felt the heat from the rod in his hand. He steeled himself for what he knew was to come. Venom stood behind Ranma and raised the Heat-Stick, aiming for the space directly between his shoulder blades.

"You will submit to the will of the Predacons, fleshling. This I promise you." With those words, Venom brought the rod down.

And Ranma's pain began anew.


	2. Missing: One Martial Artist

Disclaimer: See prologue

Wow, when I posted the prologue to this story, I never expected to get so many reviews asking for more. It was quite the ego boost. I hope that the following chapters will meet with everyone's expectations. Thank you to all who read and reviewed! Now, on with the story!

Of Metal and Flesh. A fanfiction work by pryme-sephir Chapter One: Missing: One Martial Artist 

The Tendo Dojo in Nerima had been the center of chaos since Ranma Saotome's sudden disappearance. Ranma had never come home after being malleted by Akane five days ago, and all the fiancés and rivals had been searching for him frantically. While Shampoo, Ukyou, and Kodachi all insisted that Akane had driven Ranma away, the four of them were able to start working together after Shampoo's great-grandmother Cologne had knocked some sense into them with her ever-present can. Of course, everyone had a different reason for wanting to find Ranma.

Akane was convinced that Ranma was off with doing "something perverted with some new hussy." Shampoo wanted to retrieve her "airen" and drag him back to China. Ukyou wanted to score some more fiancé points with Ranma and try to cement a position as his "true fiancé." Kodachi was convinced that the "red-headed harridan" had kidnapped her "Ranma-sama" and that he needed to be rescued.

And that was just the fiancés…

Ryouga wanted to kill Ranma for "hurting Akane." Tatewaki Kuno was just the opposite of Kodachi: he was certain that the "foul sorcerer Saotome" had kidnapped his "pig-tailed goddess." Mousse wanted to kill Ranma and prove that he was the better man for Shampoo. Genma and Soun wanted to drag Ranma back and make him "apologize" to Akane by marrying and uniting the schools immediately. Ranma's mother, Nodoka, wanted to question him about "being unmanly and making his fiancés worry." Everyone else in Nerima was certain it was going to turn out to be just another one of the many training trips Ranma went on. The only ones who seemed to be genuinely concerned about Ranma were Happousai, Cologne, and Kasumi.

Speaking of Kasumi, she was currently in the kitchen of the Tendo household preparing the food for tonight's dinner. Kasumi's mind was not on her cooking, however, but on the missing martial artist who had made such an impact in her life. "Five days," she whispered to herself. "Ranma, where are you?" Kasumi had come to care deeply for the young man, especially after the failed wedding. It had been the evening after that monumental disaster that Kasumi had found Ranma sitting outside among the remains of the dojo in the pouring rain…

Flashback: the night after the failed wedding between Ranma and Akane…

Kasumi had just finished cleaning up the kitchen after feeding all the guests that had come today. Because the battle that had occurred had destroyed the food that had already been prepared, Kasumi had been forced to fix even more food to feed the many hungry guests. This resulted in her only just finishing cleaning the kitchen after everyone else had long since gone to sleep. Tired, both mentally and physically from the day's events, Kasumi wanted nothing more than to go collapse into her bed and sink into a blissful slumber.

Kasumi was heading upstairs to do just that when she noticed that someone had left the side doors open. Sighing to herself at the carelessness of her family, Kasumi started to walk toward the doors to close them. It was raining heavily outside, and she didn't want water to get all over the floor should the wind start blowing. As she was about to shut them, she noticed Ranma, in his cursed form due to the rain, sitting among the wreckage of the Tendo Dojo.

Kasumi was about to ask the redheaded pseudo-girl to come inside, when she noticed that Ranma was crying. Despite the heavy rainfall, Kasumi could clearly tell that those were tears streaming down Ranma's face. Kasumi was shocked. Sure, Ranma had pretended to cry on numerous occasions to deceive his enemies, and sometimes when he was just being dramatic, but for Ranma to be crying when he didn't know anyone was watching? It just didn't make any sense to her. Ranma never cried. He was supposed to be confident, humorous, and generally light-hearted. To see Ranma "I never lose" Saotome sobbing openly was just…wrong.

Kasumi turned around and moved toward the front door to retrieve an umbrella, then returned to the side doors and stepped out into the rain as she opened the umbrella. She moved quickly toward Ranma, intent on getting her out of the rain. "Ranma, why don't you come inside? If you stay out here, you're going to catch a cold." Ranma slowly tilted her head up to look at her, and Kasumi was shocked by what she saw in the girl's eyes. Hopelessness. Whereas Ranma's eyes usually danced with mirth and confidence, there was now only sadness, and a sense of…surrender.

"Ranma-kun, what's wrong?" In response to Kasumi's question, Ranma's eyes seemed to light up, not with mirth, but with anger.

"What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG? What ISN'T wrong is more like it!" Almost as quickly as Ranma's anger had flared, it faded, and the girl's mood returned to the depressed state of before. "I'm tired, Kasumi. Of all of it. The fights, the engagements, everything. I just want all the chaos to end, but I don't know how to make it stop."

Kasumi frowned at this. "But Ranma, if you simply married one of the fiancés…" Ranma cut her off before she could say anything more.

"You honestly think that would stop it? Kasumi, after all the time you've spent knowing everyone, you honestly think that if I chose to marry one of them that the others would just give up? None of them cares in the slightest what anyone else wants, Kasumi. They only care about what they want. And that 's just the start of the problem. If I don't choose Akane, your family gets dishonored, as does mine, and I could get banned from the Anything-Goes school. If I don't choose Shampoo, she'll kill whomever I do choose and try to drag me off to China anyway. And if I don't choose Ukyou, I risk having her clan declare a blood feud on my family and the family of whomever I do marry. On top of all that trouble, there are all the rivals. They'll still be trying to kill me no matter WHO I decide to marry." At this point, Ranma let out a low sigh and slumped down once again. "I'm trapped, Kasumi. The only way to get out of all this mess would be if I committed seppuku…" Kasumi's face paled and her eyes went wide at this statement "but there's no way I'm about to do that, because I have a promise to keep."

"I don't understand how you can say those things about everyone, Ranma. They all seem perfectly nice to me…"

"That's because EVERYONE'S nice to you, Kasumi."

Now THAT caused Kasumi's brow to furrow in confusion. "I…I'm not sure what you mean, Ranma…"

"Kasumi, everyone's nice to you because you're the only person in the district who's nice to everyone else. You never have a bad thing to say about anyone, you're a great cook, you put up with all the trouble everyone causes, you're smart, and you're absolutely beautiful! Kasumi, you're practically perfect! Hell, if I had a choice, I'd be engaged to you instead of any of those other selfish brats!"

When Ranma finished ranting, Kasumi was stunned. Everyone liked her? Everyone thought she was beautiful? Her? The plain, ordinary, boring little housewife? How could anyone have such a high opinion of someone as uninteresting as she was? Hearing a compliment coming from Ranma of all people made it seem even more unreal.

Wait. Back up a second. Ranma had just said that she would rather be engaged to HER instead rather than ANY of his other fiancés. Kasumi didn't need a mirror to know that she was as red as Ranma's hair right now. She decided that the conversation needed to change direction, FAST.

"Let's go inside, Ranma-kun. We don't want to catch cold out here." At Kasumi's request, the pig-tailed martial artist allowed herself to be ushered inside. Once Ranma was dried and once again male, Kasumi that the both of them needed to have a long talk…

End Flashback

Kasumi smiled at the memory. The two of them had stayed up much of the rest of the night talking. She had been quite surprised with just how sullen Ranma had become. The young man had simply poured out all of his troubles to her, and Kasumi slowly became ashamed that she had never noticed how bad things had been for so long. After that night, the two of them began to grow quite close. Every night since, the two of them would stay up late, sharing stories and comforting each other. Kasumi would soothe the wounds caused by the daily chaos in Ranma's life, and he would make her feel like something more than just the Tendo home's caretaker. She once asked him what the promise he was trying to keep was, but Ranma told he would not tell anyone, not even her. Kasumi decided that if Ranma ever wanted to tell her, then he would, and she would not pressure him.

During the month that followed, Kasumi looked on, as the situation in Nerima simply grew worse. The rivals got more violent, and the fiancés got more desperate. Yet, their friendship seemed to revitalize his spirit. Kasumi saw the mirth return to his eyes, and his confident smirk once again adorned his face.

Then, five days ago, he simply vanished.

It had started with the typical argument with Akane. Akane had gotten mad at Ranma for "picking on Ryouga" when the fanged boy had clearly tried to attack Ranma. This time, however, Ranma did not throw a single insult, and calmly pointed out that Ryouga had started the fight, and that he had simply defended himself. Akane refused to listen and quickly malleted Ranma into the sky yet again. Kasumi had chastised Akane for it, but Akane shrugged it off and said: "the perverted jerk deserved it."

It had taken all of Kasumi's willpower not to slap Akane right there. Instead, she prepared the first aid kit and the hot water for when Ranma returned home. Except that Ranma never came home. Nabiki had checked at Ukyou's, Shampoo's, and Kunou's the next day, but no one had seen him anywhere. That's when the search began in earnest, yet even with the combined efforts of nearly everyone in Nerima, nothing could be found. Nabiki was nearly to the point of ripping her hair out in frustration. Everything her information network had come up with so far had been dead-ends.

Speaking of Nabiki, she had headed out earlier today to a nearby district trailing a possible lead. Kasumi hoped that her younger sister found something. Since Ranma's disappearance, Kasumi had felt as though there were a gaping hole in her heart. Ranma had become possibly more than just a friend for her. Kasumi shook her head to clear her thoughts. Finding Ranma came first. Dealing with her feelings for him could come afterwards. It was then that Kasumi heard the front door slam, and Nabiki's voice calling out a strained "tadaima".

Kasumi bolted from the kitchen, but composed herself before confronting the middle Tendo sister. "Nabiki, please tell me that you found _something._" Nabiki turned to look at her, her usual ice-queen mask in place. Nabiki was in one of her usual business outfits, the navy blue one this time, and in her hand was a digital camcorder that Kasumi was certain that she had not had before. Nabiki's voice was dead serious as she spoke.

"I'm going to call everyone here, Kasumi. You might want to put some extra food on."

Kasumi's eyes widened and she stepped slightly closer to Nabiki. "Then, you've found him?" Kasumi's hopes were dashed as Nabiki shook her head.

"I don't know where he is…" Nabiki held up the camera. "But I know what happened to him." Nabiki's expression went from cold to grim. "And it doesn't look good…"

Author's Notes:

First of all, I'd like to clarify the timeline a bit. For the Ranma ½ part of the storyline, it's set after the failed wedding in volume 38 of the manga. As for the Transformers storyline… Well, that's a bit more complicated. In my story, the war between the Autobots and Decepticons, the "Great War" happened several thousand years prior to the events in this story, with no human involvement. The Autobots won, and peace treaties were written. The background for the Maximal/Predacon conflict is that a little over ten years ago, a small group of Predacons led by the new Megatron attempted to "claim what is rightfully theirs." I'll explain more of how the conflict came to Earth and what happened to the Maximals in future chapters.

Second, I will not necessarily be using characters from the Beast Wars show other than Megatron. Venom is based off of Tarantulus, but will have some significant differences, while Stalker is an original character. I hope this clears up some confusion for some of my reader.

Third and finally, those of you who read this chapter may have already guessed, but this will be a Ranma/Kasumi pairing. As I began writing this chapter, I decided to ignore all suggestions (and in some cases, demands) on what the pairing should be, so don't expect me to change my mind. I hate to sound rude, but it's my story and I am the sole authority on how it progresses, not anyone who tries to trash-talk me to get their way. Don't like it? Then don't read it. But to those of you who are keeping an open mind and enjoying the story, I thank you, and hope that you continue to enjoy future chapters. Ja ne!


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